04 October, 2016

CIA's previously unknown torture tactic

Two former CIA captives recently
described being threatened with a makeshift electric chair — a
previously unreported torture method — while being held in the U.S.
government’s infamous “Salt Pit” prison in Afghanistan.

In independent interviews with
Human Rights Watch in August that were made public on Monday, Ridha
al-Najjar, 51, and Lufti al-Arabi al-Gharisi, 52, described a metal
device that had wires with clips that would attach to the fingers,
and a helmet connected to wires.

“I saw an electric box, …
the chair. They said, we will torture you with electricity here,”
al-Gharisi said.

Al-Gharisi said he was forced into
the chair and connected to the machine, but was never actually
electrocuted.

Both men also described various
forms of water torture, including having their heads dunked in a
bucket of water until they couldn’t breathe, waterboarding, and
being strapped to a board while submerged face down in a bathtub.

This is the first time al-Najjar
and al-Gharisi, both of who are Tunisian nationals, have spoken out
about their time in CIA custody.

There is no mention of electric
chairs in the unclassified executive summary of the Senate
Intelligence Committee’s Torture Report that was released in
December 2014.